Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
ICE Is Bad For Business
Located right on Lake Street in south Minneapolis, Karmel Mall is usually a neighborhood hot spot, where friends check in over coffee, families run errands, and community events occur. But as Atra Mohamed writes for the Minnesota Reformer, these days businesses in the building are struggling to make rent as the immigrant community is in hiding. “[Customers] feel intimidated by ICE activities because we have seen cases where ICE does not discriminate in who they arrest,” says Basim Sabri, the mall’s owner.
And they have reason to be afraid for their safety. This Monday, ICE was in the area and, according to Fox 9, at least four people were detained, including a man witnesses say was accused of throwing a snowball. MPR did a great job capturing the incident at 29th and Pillsbury, where you can see protestors shouting at an agent as he drags a pregnant person on the ground. The video also includes a recording of the call an ICE agent made to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office saying he’s “got officers getting attacked,” presumably by snow.
Developer Wants Tax Break for Blighted Grand Avenue
What constitutes a blight? That’s what St. Paul City Council is grappling with, as developer Ari Parritz of Afton Park Development is pitching a new project at the corner of Grand and Victoria Avenue and requesting $2.95 million in tax-increment financing—something usually reserved for areas in dire need.
“[Parritz] wants to tear down the single-story Victoria Crossing East shopping plaza and a neighboring house on Grand Avenue,” writes Josie Albertson-Grove for the Star Tribune. “In its place, he wants to build a six-story building with shops and restaurants on the ground floor, 90 apartments upstairs—and plenty of parking for residents and shoppers.”
Parritz, a St. Paul resident who has already helmed a mixed-use project in the area, argues that funding a project is better than nothing at all. Hey, can we declare the long-empty Uptown Victoria’s Secret a blight, too?
New Podcast on the Lutsen Fire Is Live
When the 144-year-old Lutsen Resort burned down in early 2024, folks around the state were heartbroken. Lutsen locals, however, were also very suspicious. Turns out they may have been right to suspect foul play; just a few weeks ago the lodge’s owner, Bryce James Campbell, was charged with arson and insurance fraud. After renovations and efforts to appeal to more upscale clientele, Campbell reportedly had incurred a lot of debt—$14 million according to reports.
Local journalist Joe Friedrichs was at the scene of the fire, where community members could be heard crying out things like, “Oh my god, he actually did it.” And he’s been investigating the sad tale of what happened since. (He spoke with Racket about the project back in July.)
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, The Fire: A North Shore Story, a 20-minute, five-episode series, is officially out. While this is an ongoing criminal case, the details here are juicy, with interviews from Lutsen employees, eye-witnesses on the scene the night of the fire, and a fire and bomb expert.
Minneapolis Didn’t Solve Homelessness by 2025
Yep, that was a goal set by Hennepin County in 2023. In this really great, extensive piece for Sahan Journal, Shubhanjana Das and Katrina Pross explore how the county tried to better serve unhoused populations, including what worked and (mostly) what didn’t. Challenges over the past few years have included maintaining data systems that keep track of individuals, inconsistent funding (some programs that receive HUD funding have had to scrub DEI language from their site), not enough services, and the city’s overall reaction to homeless encampments (i.e. plowing through areas with a bulldozer).
“We’re still going to create bold goals, but we also don’t want to create false starts by declaring something that may not be completely in our control to get to,” says Danielle Werder, senior department administrator with Hennepin County’s Office of Housing Stability.
